Returning to Capeside

One of my favourite TV shows from the 90s, Dawson’s Creek, has arrived on Netflix and I’ve hooked the youngest onto it.

I figured if she was obsessed with Gilmour Girls – she’s watched every season of the show at least twice – she’d enjoy this coming of age show too.

Kevin Williamson, the show’s writer and creator, told Oprah magazine about his fears for how the TikTok generation will receive the show.

“I do hope some will appreciate the show for what it is: a romance, a coming-of-age story,” he said. “But, the world has changed. I just hope it connects.”

Oddly enough, both the Gilmore Girls and Dawson’s Creek have (tenuous) real-life crossovers for me.

Tanc Sade (left), who played Finn on Gilmour Girls, is the son of the nanny who helped rear the youngest from a bub while I was editor of Woman’s Day magazine.

The youngest met Tanc many times as a child – pre-COVID he’d come home every Christmas for around a month’s holiday, but she doesn’t remember him in the flesh.

As for Dawson’s Creek, I was obsessed with both the show and Pacey while it was on air from 1998-2003, and once spent an infamous night out on the town with Joshua Jackson’s publicist.

If you heard the story before – sadly, I’ve told it far too often – you can start scrolling now.

I was in Los Angeles for a photo shoot with Christina Applegate. She went COMPLETELY MENTAL when the song “Fat Boy Slim is f#cking in heaven, f#cking in, f#cking in …” came on and demanded it be turned off AT ONCE. I panicked and couldn’t find the off switch fast enough and … I’ve blanked the rest out.

Anyway, the photographer was dating Lucy Lui at the time, and Kylie Minogue was staying at his place. So he called them both up and invited them out with me and my gorgeous friend Ken, who was the stylist on the shoot. Lucy said she’d rather him come over for a quiet night. All I heard from his side of the phone conversation was: “Why would I want to stay in when I could go out with my friends?”

Or something like that, which I thought was pretty bolshie when he was dating someone as hot as Lucy Lui. And a bit disappointing for me when I’d been hoping to retell the story of a lifetime – I WENT TO DINNER WITH KYLIE MINOGUE AND LUCY LUI!!!!

Kylie, on the other hand, was keen for a night out. So we met at a restaurant called Little Door for dinner. Well, Kylie didn’t order dinner, just dessert – a creme brulee – and offered to share it with us. That was pretty much the sum total of her conversation, she just sat there whispering in her photographer mate’s ear the rest of the time.

I can’t remember if I took Kylie up on her creme brulee offer, which seems rather risque in the age of COVID, but I do remember being impressed that she ate sugar when she was so tiny. We’d done a photo shoot with her a few weeks earlier and the size 8 denim shorts we dressed her in (the smallest Aussie designers made back then, ah the good ol’ days) had to be bulldog clipped at the back to stop them falling around her ankles.

Oh, and that’s the other thing – no cute little shorts and sparkly tops for Kylie for dinner. She wore a big, baggy, high-necked jumper.

Halfway through dinner I pootled off to the bathroom and met a lively lass called Roma Downey in the queue. I had no idea who she was, but it turned out she was the star of a show called Touched By An Angel … and she had a limo waiting outside.

Well hell-o Roma!

She was there with her publicist – who also happened to manage Joshua Jackson. So we talked our way into a ride in her limo.

Our photographer friend was keen as mustard and asked Kylie if she wanted to come too. Kylie wanted to give her boyfriend, Slick the model (really), a call to see if he wanted to join us. But Slick was tired and fancied a quiet night in. Kylie shrugged and decided to join us. She was driving a rental and asked if anyone wanted a lift.

Now there’s a dilemma you don’t face every day – a lift in Kylie’s rental or a ride in a celeb’s limo …

The photographer squawked: “Why would I want a lift with you when I could go in a limo?”

So we all piled in the limo and headed off into the night. A forlorn Kylie followed behind us, her head barely visible above the steering wheel of her rental car.

We pulled up at the very trendy Bar Marmont and were refused entry – it was hosting the launch party for Kate Winslet’s movie, Holy Smoke. The bouncers had no idea who Kylie Minogue or Roma Downey were, so their desperate pleas for entry were rejected. Ooooh, I thought from the back of the limo – there’s a comedown for Kylie …

So we decided on Cindy Crawford’s hubby’s joint, The Whiskey Bar, instead.

We walked through the door and – eeek – Kylie spotted Slick … chatting up a pneumatic blonde at the bar …

So much for him wanting an early night … Ken spent the rest of the night consoling Kyles in the corner while I gave Joshua Jackson’s publicist the third degree.

I’ve occasionally wondered if I should have paid more attention to Kylie that night, since I was never going to get another chance to “party” with her. But she was kinda … boring …

And the youngest was equally bored when I told her the story after she watched the first episode of Dawson’s Creek.

You’d think she’d be impressed, but 14 year olds are very difficult to impress.

As for her verdict on Dawson’s Creek … she had two words: “Not bad.”

Song of the day: Paula Cole “I don’t want to wait”